The Girl with White Hair
by measuremesky
Summary: Elina has a close call with one of the most dangerous criminals in Jump City: Slade. After a science experiment changes her genetic makeup, Elina begins to have strange connections with animals. When she first meets the Titans, she is reserved and defensive, and the Titans know nothing about her. Will she warm up to them, or one Titan in particular?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I started this story two years ago and haven't touched it since, so I don't know how good it is, but since I have ten chapters of it already, I thought I'd post it.**

Chapter 1: The White-Haired Girl

Tears streamed down her face as she ran far, far away from that place. There was no way she could ever go back there again - they would only see her as a freak. Humans were not supposed to look like this, not ever. She sobbed, letting out all agony and pain that had been pent up inside of her. How did things get so out of hand? In retrospect, she knew that she ran the risk of becoming what she was now. But she did not let the opportunity slip away. No, her hunger for success had fogged her usually clear thinking. The thirst for wanting to have the power to control life won over her inhibitions. And now here she was, regretting she had ever gotten herself involved. The streets were unusually dark at this time of night. All the lights were off, and the only source of light came from the moon, which cast eerie shadows on the walls. The cool air cut through her lab coat, making her shiver. It was only in the sixties, but to the girl, it felt much colder. The wind made a slight swooshing sound as it blew past her ears, as though it was whispering in them tauntingly, reminding her of what she had done.

The only living soul she had seen was her reflection in the puddles as her feet angrily sloshed through them. But no matter how hard she tried to get away, it would always follow her to the next one, and she would purposely kick through it again. The person she had seen just that morning in the mirror was not the same person in the puddle. She had changed; her whole life had changed in almost an instant. Her white lab was coat still on, which only made her flaws more noticeable. The light from the moon gave her silky hair a ghostly shimmer, and caused her milk-white skin to glow. Someone would have to spot her soon, but she couldn't take that chance.

She turned the next corner and that's when she saw it: a wolf. She could hear the misery in the wolf's voice as it cried at the moon; she could feel its loneliness, its desire for a companion. The sight made her stop abruptly and had entranced her. She could not take her eyes off the creature. The creature, hearing something approach it, turned to look at the girl. Its amber-colored eyes stared at her and the creature froze. It did not bark, or howl, or snarl. It simply gazed upon her with a peculiar expression; one she had not seen from an animal before, almost…humanlike. The girl quickly shook her head; she was merely seeing things. She glanced back at the wolf, which was still watching her with an inquisitive expression. Then suddenly, she could hear a heart pounding. This heart rate was faster; it couldn't possibly be hers. The girl wondered if it was coming from another human nearby, but when she looked around; the only living thing that she could see was the wolf.

Its gaze was intense, as though it was trying to peer into her own soul. Rationally, it wasn't right. She knew better than to assume something based on just a feeling without any facts. But it felt so real; something was happening to her. And she was sure the wolf had caused it. Suddenly, an earsplitting, high-pitched buzzing cut through the sound of the wolf's heartbeat. Pain washed over her as the shrillness if the sound inhabited her head. The sound was unbearable. She fell to the ground on her knees and squeezed her head with her hands, trying to block out the sound. She felt dizzy and disoriented, except this time it was different. It was as if the ground or the sky or anything simply did not exist.

Then she heard several whispers, but she could not make out what they were saying. She scanned the scene to make sure she and the wolf were alone, but it dawned on her that she indeed was not alone. She became extremely sensitive to her surroundings, as though she were experiencing the world in an entirely different way. New scents wafted through her nose and even the smallest noise, such as the rustling of a mouse scurrying back into its hole was easily audible to her.

Her eyes rested on a small dove sitting atop of a garbage can. It was staring at her with the same expression that the wolf had given her. Its beady bird eyes had a more expressive look to them; a look of inquiry and knowledge. She knew it was definitely not the look of a typical bird. She saw a mouse that had been nibbling on some crumbs on the ground, but now was staring at her with the same curious expression. It wasn't just the wolf anymore; all the animals had become more aware of her presence. There was only one thing she was certain about at that moment: she was the one that was causing it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chp. 2: Robin the Boy Wonder

She was the one that was causing it. The effects of the serum were nothing she had ever expected.

She needed to get away from all of this.

She ran around the nearest corner, only to find she had ran into a dark alley. She knew it was not the brightest move ever, but she found herself not caring as much as she would've if it wasn't for what had happened just seconds ago. Her mind was infested with thoughts of her new abilities. It overwhelmed her, and even scared her. She had no clue how she had affected those animals. What would they do to her? Panting heavily, she looked around and saw that the end of the alley was a dead end. She decided to turn around before she made herself panic, or worse, was caught. As she cautiously approached the entrance to the alley, she heard a faint rustling behind her. She reassured herself it was probably her imagination, since she wasn't feeling quite like herself at the moment. But about ten seconds later, she heard the rustling again. She sped up her walking, trying to appear as though she did not notice anything in the slight chance that someone was indeed following her. She felt she appeared calm on the outside, but inside she could feel her own heart racing inside her chest and pounding in her ears. She was convinced that she was being followed now. She clenched her fists with her nails painfully pressing against her palms, trying to force herself to act natural. To confirm that she was being followed and that she was not simply scaring herself silly, she tried casually glancing to the right and using her peripheral vision to check is someone was there. Even though it was dark, there didn't seem to appear to be any movement or any shadow lurking behind her. No one was there. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the whole thing was all in her head, but she mentally scolded herself for letting her imagination get the best of her. She turned her head back around, only to find a dark figure looming in front of her. The figure was barely visible but the way that the way the moonlight glinted off of the figure showed that it was metallic.

"Hello darling," the shadow said. Its voice was syrupy and calm, and while it sounded pleasant, there was a wickedness dripping from it as well, which made her hair stand on end. It sounded like a human male's voice, yet it sounded detached, as though the human part of it was merely a distant memory. She knew by the alluring voice it had that its intentions could not be good. She knew she was trapped, but she ran back into the alley anyways, trying to keep as much space between it as possible. Yet, the thing seemed to only want to get closer to her. She slowly backed into the alley, unsure of what the thing would do.

"You can't run away from me. You can't hide from me." The figure walked closer to her like a predator would to its prey. She watched in horror, as the thing got closer to her.

"I know what you are going through. I can help you, my dear." It spoke as though it knew her. Thinking that the thing had been watching her this whole time - following her, through her misery and suffering terrified her, yet made her angry.

"H-how do you possibly know what I am going through?!" she spat, trying to cover the fear in her voice. To her dismay, the figure sounded pleased instead of taken aback by her comment.

"Because, Elina, I was once a freak like you. I was in a tragic accident that had changed my life in an instant." She could hear the resentment in his voice. "People do not accept souls like us, because we are different. But we have a chance to show them that we are not inferior. We can create a world that is how we think it should be. They wouldn't control us any longer. And we would no longer need to hide from them. Wouldn't you want to live in a world like that?" the thing asked.

The girl felt the wall of the alley behind her, knowing that she could not keep the space between them anymore. In a way, what it was saying was right. She was a freak. People would not accept her, and because of that she would have to hide against her own will. And she knew it knew she did not want that. It knew her: it knew her name, it knew what she was, and it knew her deepest insecurities. It knew how to get to her; it was smart, and she needed someone smart to help her. But she certainly did not want it to help her. She could tell it was menacing; it was willing to hurt people. Her whole life had revolved around helping others, and she did not want to destroy what she had worked all her life for. Her only response was "How do you know my name?" The thing knew she knew it was right; she just needed a little more coaxing, and she would be on its side. But she was stubborn. She shut her eyes, knowing she was at its mercy. It was like her childhood nightmares coming to life, except this time, it was real.

"Let me help you," the thing said, its voice trickling with persuasion. "Let me help you, Elina."

"The only thing she needs help with is getting you to disappear, Slade," a voice said. Elina looked up at the source of the voice to see a shadow flip off the rim of the alley and kick what she guessed was called Slade, in the face. The figure then got into a fighting stance, ready for Slade to retaliate. Up close, Elina could see the new shadow was a male, not much older than she was, and wearing a white mask with black trim over his eyes. He had dark hair, which was spiked up, and he appeared to be very slim and agile.

Slade slowly stood up while the boy was in a defensive position, but Slade did not attack. He simply waved at Elina and calmly walked out of the alley. "Come and find me when you decide to join me," he said, and disappeared into the shadows.

The boy rushed over to where Slade had vanished, but found that Slade was already gone. The boy grunted in frustration and muttered something to himself, then looked over at Elina. She noticed him watching her, and she started debating about whether or not she should take off and leave the boy to his business. His presence made her a tad uncomfortable; he was obviously serious, not to mention dangerous, especially since she didn't know what side he was on. She didn't have much time to make a choice because as soon as the boy noticed her, he started walking closer to her. Elina decided that either way, good or bad, he would catch her, so she stayed where she was and braced herself for a confrontation.

As he neared her, she could see him clearer. He was about the same height as she was (maybe a bit taller), and he was wearing a black cape with yellow underneath, green spandex and black and white converse sneakers. On his chest he wore red and had green gloves that went to his elbows. She wondered who would be wearing crazy getup like he was, probably someone who was trying to impersonate a hero of some sort. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, the clouds had completely surpassed the moon, revealing a yellow R to the right of his chest that had once been obscured by a shadow. There was only one person who it could be, who the R could belong to. It was Robin the Boy Wonder.


	3. Chapter 3

Chp. 3: Elina the Stranger

"Are you okay?" Robin asked.

Elina simply stared at him, not believing that the Boy Wonder was right before her very eyes. After she did not respond right away, Robin loudly cleared his throat, which brought her out of her trance.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine," she said quickly, the last part more to herself to convince herself that she was fine. She silently cursed herself for acting so stupid. The last thing she wanted Robin to think was that she was an idiot. To her relief, Robin didn't seem affected by her lack of response. She thought he would be much more impatient since he had worked with the famous Batman, who was very serious and down-to-business.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked. She noticed the bitterness in his voice at the mention of the metallic man.

"No, he didn't." she said, still trying to recover from her state of shock. It didn't help that the Boy Wonder was asking questions; she felt as though she was the criminal being interrogated, and it made her nervous, wondering if Robin believed her to be up to no good as well, or worse, if he found out about her past.

Robin sensed her discomfort, and wondered if she was new to Jump City or not, or if she even knew who he was.

"Are you from here?" he asked.

Elina suddenly remembered her reflection in the mirror. _Oh great, he thinks I'm an alien_ , she thought.

"Yes, I'm from here. And why are you asking me all these questions?" she snapped.

Robin stood his ground, un-phased by her reaction. He knew people were defensive like she was being when they were scared or alone, in fact, he too had been one of those people until he had met up with the Titans. He remembered the kind of person he was when he had shut people out, and because of it, he wouldn't let her get away that easily.

"Do you have a home?" he asked, ignoring her previous remark.

The girl's eyes seem to soften, and he could see the sadness swimming in them. "Not anymore," she said.

Robin didn't understand what that meant and was curious to find out more, but since she refused to elaborate, he felt it was best not to push her anymore. Instead, he authoritatively stuck his hands on his hips while a small smirk spread across his face.

"Guess you'll have to stay with us," he said matter-of-factly.

Elina's heart skipped a beat as she processed what Robin was saying. She would be staying with THE Batman and Robin, at their home, without any reason whatsoever.

"Who's us?" she asked, just to make sure she had heard him correctly.

"The Titans and me," Robin said, as if it was a trivial thing.

Elina did recall hearing about the Titans in the newspaper; how they had fought different villains that had threatened the well being of Jump City. But it had never occurred to her that Robin was actually a part of the Titans.

"Aren't you still working with Batman?" she asked, slightly confused.

To her surprise, Robin chuckled slightly.

"No, I have my own team now."

"Oh," Elina said, feeling a bit clueless, which made her feel uneasy. She had always been so sure of herself. He really must have thought she was dense.

"What's your name?" Robin asked.

"Oh, my name is Elina," Elina replied. She stuck out her hand for him to shake it, as she knew it was the courteous thing to do, as well as her wanting to salvage what dignity she had left.

He respectively shook her hand, then turned and motioned for her to follow.

"Alright," he said. "Let's get to the Tower."


	4. Chapter 4

Chp. 4: The Titans

"You're going down, Cyborg! Nobody has beaten my high score in this game, ever," Beast Boy said.

"Oh really? No new high score, huh? Until tonight!" Cyborg retorted. The Titans were sprawled out amongst the living room, waiting for their leader to return. Starfire was glancing anxiously at the door while Raven was on the other side of the room, trying to meditate. And Beast Boy and Cyborg were doing the usual: playing video games.

"Aww man, you cheated!" Beast Boy whined.

"I wonder when Robin will be back from his patrol. I feel there is no need for him to go alone, especially when there is none of the danger," Starfire said.

Raven glanced over at Starfire with her right eye open, wondering why no one who was presently in the tower could be quiet for even a few seconds. "He probably needs time alone, Star. It's his way of releasing unproductive energy, like I do when I meditate. At least when it's quiet and there are no annoying distractions." Raven glared at Cyborg and Beast Boy, who weren't paying the slightest attention to her.

"I demand a rematch!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

Starfire sighed and continued to stare at the door.

To her delight, Robin, along with another person walked through the door of the living room not long after. The dinging of the elevator made everyone turn to look at him and noticed that there was someone else who followed him in. The four friends eyed the stranger curiously. Starfire was the first one to speak.

"Look, it is Robin! And he has brought a female home with him."

Cyborg and Beast Boy exchanged amused expressions. Raven rolled her eyes at the half-robot and the changeling.

Robin caught them smirking as well and shot a glare in their direction as well and continued with what he was about to say. "Everyone, this is Elina," Robin said. He gestured to the other Titans. "And that's Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven. These are the Titans."

The three greeted their guest cheerfully, except Raven whom said "hi" in her usual monotone voice. Elina observed the other four strangers, whom she did admit had rather odd appearances: a bronze-skinned girl with cherry-red hair and green eyes, a half metal man, a green elf, and a floating cloaked figure. In theory, she could have fit right in if it was strictly based on looks. Still, the way they all were staring at her made her nervous. In their world, she was the stranger; she was the weird one.

"Hello," she said in the cheeriest voice she could, nonetheless sounding as sincere as the cloaked one's "hi".

The other Titans watched her curiously; slightly perplexed by the vibe she was giving them.

Elina shifted her weight uncomfortably and avoided meeting their inquisitive gazes.

Robin sensed the awkward tension in the room and decided it was time to move on to more important matters. "I found her with Slade," he said, breaking the long silence.

The rest of the Titans' eyes widened in shock and in horror. To Elina's relief, she was quickly forgotten now that the team was distracted.

"Didn't we kick his sorry butt months ago?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin frowned, wondering what Slade had been up to and how he escaped from prison. "There's no telling what happened after that," he said rather grimly. He of all the Titans had the worst experience with his arch nemesis, and he vowed that someday, he would defeat Slade and he would be sure that Slade would not return.

Starfire was remorseful from the unfortunate turn of events, including her new friend's lack of safety.

"Surely we cannot let her back onto the streets. It is too dangerous," she said, turning their attention back to Elina, who stiffened after becoming the topic of conversation once more.

Robin glanced at her and nodded in agreement. "Starfire's right, which is why I brought her here."

Starfire beamed, her happiness causing her to hover above the ground. "Glorious!" she exclaimed. "We shall be the bestest of friends!" She flew over to Elina and clasped her arms around her tightly in a suffocating hug, then quickly pulled away. "Come, we must show you where you will be staying!"

Before Elina could protest, to her surprise, Starfire grabbed her pale wrist and led her down the hall with Beast Boy and Cyborg trailing behind them.

Raven was about to head to her room as well, but glanced back at Robin, who had is arms folded and was staring into the hall as though he was in deep in thought. Raven knew what the trouble was; she sensed Robin's mind was wandering.

"Are you okay, Robin?" she asked.

Robin drove his fist into his palm. "I need to track down Slade," he declared. "Who knows what he's planning this time?"

Raven turned to face Robin. "Do you think it has something to do with the girl?"

Robin didn't respond right away.

"I don't know, but we'd better keep an eye on her. She doesn't appear to be on his side, but it's too early to tell. The best we can do is try to befriend her, then we'll go from there."

Raven nodded. "I agree. But don't get yourself all worked up about it. You know Slade would want you to," she said, remembering how crazy Robin could get over tracking down Slade, which only had given Slade the advantage.

Robin's voice was softer and had lost some of the harshness as he acknowledged Raven's advice.

"I know. I'll just start tracking him down for a little while, then I'll get some rest." Raven looked doubtful, knowing that in the past Robin had pulled all-nighters when it came to investigating some of the tougher criminals. Nonetheless, she took his word for it, and hoped that tonight their leader would get some sleep.

"Okay then. I'm going to my room now, so goodnight Robin."

"Goodnight Raven," Robin said, whose mind was set on defeating the baddest villain in Jump City, once and for all.


	5. Chapter 5

Chp. 5: In the Life of the Titans

Elina woke up feeling not as refreshed as she would've liked. She opened her eyes to find she was in an unfamiliar room. Suddenly, the events that took place last night were all coming back to her. After rubbing the sleep from her eye, she studied the room she was in. The walls were beige and bare, the only furniture in her room was the bed and a small plain nightstand, which only reminded her that she was in a guest room, meaning she would be living here temporarily. She stretched her arms out and yawned, wondering if she should venture out and see what the others were up to, but she decided against it. Instead, she climbed out of bed and walked over to the window. She pulled back the curtains to see that the sun had just risen. This was about the usual time Elina would get up and head to her lab (when she would leave the lab, that is). But she did not know if the Titans got up around this time, but did not want to be the one to awaken them. This was not her home, and she did not want to be intruding. She walked to the edge of her bed and sat down, still recovering from last night's chaos. It had all happened in a blur to her: she had run from the lab, she had been attacked, Robin had rescued her and took her to the Tower, and now she was here. She had been a welcomed guest, yet she felt as though she did not belong here. The Titans would be out fighting crime with their superpowers and abilities, and she would be just sitting here, feeling completely useless. Her life work it seemed to have gone down the drain; there was no way she could go back to lab and finish what she had started. Her life had lost all of its purpose within a matter of hours.

She stayed in her room until she could hear faint voices and what sounded as the clanging of pots and pans. She walked over to the door, and sensing her presence, the door slid open, almost like the door in her lab. She hesitantly stepped out into the hall, checking to make sure if anyone was there, and slowly made her way into the living room. Right away, she could see Beast Boy was lounging on the couch, playing video games. She looked around, seeing Starfire, who was staring into the kitchen. She followed Starfire's gaze, and spotted Cyborg, who was making breakfast. So far, she had seen three Titans. It took her a minute to spot Raven, who was hidden in the corner of the room reading and sipping a drink of some kind. She walked into the room feeling calmer, knowing that she had gone unnoticed. As soon as she had relaxed, heard Starfire's enthused voice from behind her, which made her jump.

"Friend! You were so quiet, we did not know you were present!" she exclaimed. "Did you have a restful slumber, I am hoping?"

Elina forced herself to smile, not wanting to be rude to her hostess. "It was nice," she quickly said. She walked over to the couch and sat on the opposite side from Beast Boy, who was intensely focused on the game. She sat upright with her hands in her lap, not really sure what to do with herself at the moment.

"Take that, you aliens!" Beast Boy shouted at the screen. Noticing that she had sat down, Beast Boy turned his head to Elina, who tensed as she met his gaze. "Hey, do you wanna play with me?" Beast Boy said too eagerly for Elina's comfort.

Elina nervously tugged at her hair, wishing she were anywhere else in the Tower but here. "Video games aren't really my thing," she said.

Beast Boy pouted like a child did when he or she wasn't getting his or her way. "Please!" he whined. "You have to!"

Elina shifted uncomfortably in her seat and was about to protest when Cyborg's booming voice echoed through the kitchen, making her jump once more.

"Yo, El, want some pancakes?" Cyborg asked.

It took Elina a minute to realize that Cyborg was talking to her. She had never been called "El" before.

"Want some?" Cyborg asked again, making sure Elina heard him.

Elina didn't usually have anything special for breakfast. For as long as she could remember, her breakfast had consisted of a bowl of multi-grain cereal and a piece of fruit. She did not feel right about having people cook for her, especially when the food was something she wasn't used to eating.

"Do you have any cereal?" Elina asked. Cyborg frowned at her as though her request was strange.

"Cereal? Is that all you want for breakfast?" he asked.

Elina nodded, a tad irritated that everyone found something so minor such as asking for a bowl of cereal was a big deal, or even strange.

Beast Boy nudged her, making her realize her personal space was being compromised. "Come on, Cyborg makes the best pancakes! It's about the only thing he makes that isn't meat." He shot a glare at Cyborg, who simply shrugged and turned his attention back to Elina.

"So, you're sure you don't want some pancakes?"

Realizing that no one would leave her alone unless she gave in to some pancakes, she sighed in defeat. "I'll take two."


	6. Chapter 6

Chp. 6: Robin the Leader

As all the four Titans and Elina were enjoying their pancakes on the couch, they heard footsteps. Everyone turned their heads to Robin, who had just entered the living room, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Starfire smiled.

"Good morning, Rob-you do not look so good," she observed, noticing Robin's untidy appearance. Robin's usually neat, spiky hair now looked ruffled and uncombed. Dark circles rested under his eyes and his lips were pressed into a thin line, one of anger and frustration.

"Mornin' Rob. What happened to you?" Cyborg asked, concerned for his leader.

Robin's eyes narrowed, making him appear more cold and unfriendly. "I was tracking down Slade," Robin said. "I didn't find anything." He turned his head away from the Titans and began searching the kitchen for something to eat, not caring that the Titans, including Elina, were staring at him nervously. Robin spotted the plate of pancakes sitting on the counter.

"Is anyone going to eat these?" he asked, still very serious.

Cyborg grinned slightly, a bit amused by how Robin could be so serious, even when it came to pancakes. "No Rob, we saved them for you. I made them, by the way," he said, wanting credit for them, despite the tension in the room.

Robin looked at the pancakes and started piling them on his plate. Elina noticed Robin's rigid expression soften slightly. "Thanks, Cyborg," he said. The tension in the room quickly dissipated to some extent: the Titans knew their leader wasn't too far gone if he was still able to smile.

Robin gathered his pancakes and sat on the couch with the rest of the Titans, between Cyborg and Beast Boy. He seemed to relax as he ate his pancakes, that is, until Raven opened her mouth.

"I warned you not to stay up all night, Robin," she said.

Robin's grim expression returned. "I wasn't. I still got a few hours of sleep," he said. The others weren't convinced of that.

"Dude, you're really stressing about this, aren't you?" Cyborg asked.

Robin looked out the window as though he were lost in thought. "I have to find him. No one is safe until he is defeated: Elina, the Titans, the whole city isn't safe. And it's my job to find him."

Elina flinched at her name, knowing this villain must be bad if Robin was so agitated by him.

Cyborg watched Robin, knowing that it was hard on Robin to think of Slade; Slade had a negative effect on all of them. But Robin needed to know it wasn't just his responsibility.

"Our job, Robin." Cyborg corrected. "And who knows?" Cyborg glanced at Elina. "Maybe Elina could help us find him."

Elina subtly shook her head in opposition to the idea. She was a scientist, nothing more. How could she track down the baddest supervillian in Jump City? The Titans were one of the best superheroes around and they were even outwitted by Slade. What could she possibly do? Unfortunately, Cyborg had already opened the door, and to Elina's dismay, the conversation had been steered towards her.

"How could she help us? She doesn't have any powers, does she?" Beast Boy asked.

Everyone kept stealing glances at her, trying to figure out the strange girl sitting in their living room and her connection to Slade.

Robin rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "But what would Slade want with her anyways? She must be of some value to him," he said, thinking out loud. He pondered the question for a moment, and then abruptly turned around with his cape swishing dignifiedly behind him. "I'm going to my room to do some more research," he declared as he started walking towards the hall.

Elina stiffened in her seat and protectively held her arms against her body. Since she now had been linked to Slade in the conversation, there was no doubt Robin was going to do some research on her, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure that wouldn't happen. She was already worried about being treated as an experiment; now they would figure out who she was, where she came from, and why she left.

"Wait!" she said. The Titans' heads spun around and five pairs of eyes greeted her instantaneously. It caught her off guard, but knowing her options were limited, she had no choice but to move on and tell them what little information she could. Maybe then, they would stop trying to pry her open like a can of soup. She took a deep breath, looked into their questioning faces and hoped this would be last time she would have to explain this to anyone.

"Something happened to me last night, and I think that's why Slade is after me."


	7. Chapter 7

Chp. 7: Elina's Story

All the Titans gathered around to hear Elina's story. She took a few silent deep breaths to prepare herself, not really knowing what the Titans would think of her after she finished, even after the vague version of her tale. But she didn't want Robin researching her; she would rather tell everyone what she thought was appropriate at this point in time.

"It started when I was…leaving my lab. I began to have strange interactions with animals," she said.

"Wait, you have a lab?" Beast Boy asked. Elina sighed; she knew that part of her story would be hard to avoid, but they didn't need to know any more than what she had just told them.

"I have a lab. I'm a scientist," she said rather coldly, hoping the others would take the hint and not press her anymore. A short silence followed until Robin loudly cleared his throat.

"Anyways, you were having interactions with animals?" he asked, growing impatient with how slow things were going. He was desperate to know of anything that may involve Slade, and the Boy Wonder knew better than to press her anymore, otherwise, she would close up completely, leaving Robin with no lead to follow.

"Yes."

Beast Boy looked amused. "What kind of "interactions"?" he asked, his smirk showing that he wasn't taking her too seriously.

"I don't know. It was as if they were all…staring at me." She avoided meeting the Titans' tentative gazes. She knew how foolish she sounded, but there was plainly no evidence to prove she was telling the truth.

"Girl, that's crazy. You were probably having some kind of hallucinations from breathing all those chemicals or something."

Elina looked down at her lap, feeling a mix of shame and annoyance. They were calling her insane even before they knew the entire story.

"There is more," she continued. "The animals' expressions had changed as well; they were almost human-like. And then I heard something's heart beating. There was a wolf nearby, and I swear it belonged to the wolf's."

Robin, along with the other Titans looked skeptical. "How do you know it wasn't yours? You were pretty shaken up when I found you," he said.

Elina did remember how fast her heart was beating when Robin had found her, but it still was too slow for the heartbeat she had heard.

"It was too fast to be any human's heartbeat. The wolf was staring at me the same way the other animals were." She glanced up at the Titans, who still had doubt plastered on their faces. "And there was something else that happened, before then…I…I don't know how to explain it, but it was as if I could feel the wolf's…pain." The rest of the Titans were still unconvinced.

However, Robin moved closer to the others, looking slightly intrigued. "Explain," he ordered.

Elina took comfort in the fact that at least one of the Titans might believe her story, but the Boy Wonder wanted answers, and Elina was afraid she couldn't give them to him, even with the information she hadn't decided to share. She barely understood the situation herself.

"It howled, and I could feel the loneliness that it was feeling. It wanted a companion." She heard the words flow through her own ears, and she hated it: listening to her own voice babbling such nonsense.

However, Beast Boy's eyes grew wider as he started showing interest as well. "So does that mean you can communicate with animals? Cool…!" He couldn't believe the possibility that maybe someone else would have a power relating to animals.

"I don't know if I can. I don't even know what happened to me last night," Elina said.

Robin had been contemplating what Elina had said, and decided that there simply wasn't enough evidence to conclude anything one-way or the other. "There's still some holes in your story, Elina, but that's all that we have," Robin said.

Elina knew the Titans weren't completely content with her story. Yet, she couldn't help but feel a bit offended by their doubts. It wasn't as if she was lying to them. They hadn't even been with her that night and they were acting suspicious of her. It wasn't her fault that she didn't understand what was going on. Plus, she had her own doubts in the team as well. If she needed their help (which she was fairly confident she didn't), and even if she did and they could help her, would they give it to her? All she wanted was to be normal again.

While she was silently fuming at the team, she remembered what Slade had said. She could hear is voice saying repeatedly I can help you, over and over again in her mind. Despite her frustration with the Titans, she wanted Slade to be taken down. Like Robin had said, she wasn't safe as long as Slade was on the loose. A part of her worried that Slade would come after her if he had the chance, not like she would admit it though, to the Titans or herself. She decided it was best to tell them as much as she could in order to help them defeat Slade, and then she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

"Slade said he knew what I was going through, and that he could help me," she quickly added.

Robin had been pacing around the room and stopped suddenly when he heard her mention Slade. He needed to know what Slade wanted from her. "Slade might be convinced that you have powers, and that's why he's after you," he speculated.

Elina nodded in agreement. "I was thinking that too. But if I do have any powers, I certainly don't know how to use them."

Starfire, as usual, looked thoughtful. "Why do not we simply check to see if she possesses any of the powers?" she inquired, not quite understanding why everyone was making the task much harder than it was.

Robin shook his head. "It's not that easy, Star," he said.

Elina noticed the slight change in Robin's voice when he had addressed Starfire. She didn't rule out that it may have been her imagination, but she thought the way Robin had spoken to Starfire was different than how he spoke to everyone else.

"Oh, oh!" Cyborg raised his hand in excitement. "We could just go down to the lab and have my machines analyze her DNA. We could just hook her up and we'd be able to find any signs of mutations or irregularities in her DNA within minutes," he suggested.

"No!" Elina exclaimed. She didn't want anyone to see her DNA, let alone near it, and she especially didn't want the Titans to. She was sure the serum had changed her DNA somehow, but she didn't want the Titans to know that. They would not treat her normally after that, and maybe they would want to run all these tests on her. No matter how she felt, it was none of their business to examine her DNA. If she wanted to examine it, then it was her business, and she would study it independently. All the Titans turned to look at her with confused expressions, causing Elina to panic.

"I mean, that won't be necessary," she corrected herself.

Robin frowned. While the most logical thing to do may have been to encourage her to trust Cyborg and to follow through with the analysis, she seemed pretty upset, and he didn't want to make her more upset. Pushing her might set her off, which might cause her to run away, giving Slade another chance to turn someone potentially powerful against the Titans. And it would give the Titans; it would give Robin, another opponent and another barrier between Slade and him. Robin immediately dismissed the idea.

"Why don't we just go to the training room and see if we can trigger the power in Elina, then we'll know if she has any or not," he said. The others quietly nodded; they were still thrown off by Elina's strange reaction. "Then let's go to the training room then."

Robin started to make his way to the hallway leading to the training room and motioned for the others to follow. One by one, Elina being the last to rise from the couch, the Titans followed Robin to the training room, with Elina trailing slowly behind them. She was reluctant, but it was better than having her DNA in the clutches of strangers.


	8. Chapter 8

Chp. 8: Elina's Powers

"Come on, Elina, show us what you got!" Robin shouted at Elina from the other side of the training room. The other Titans were standing on the sidelines, watching the scene unfold with interest. Being the leader, Robin had decided that he should be the one to help Elina bring forth her power. He believed that it would be safer for the rest of the team in case her powers got out of hand, that is, is she had any. Elina was starting to have doubts that she did not have any powers and what had happened to her had been merely ha hallucination. Plus, she had no interest in using her powers anyway. She didn't want to stop crime; she wasn't a fighter. Robin's voice broke through her thoughts. "Come on Elina!" Robin called impatiently. "I haven't got all day."

Elina felt her blood boil hearing all these demands from the Boy Wonder, as if she knew what she was doing. "Okay, okay, just give me some space Robin!" she snapped. She knew it was rude to be talking to a superhero that way, more importantly the leader, but he was really getting on her nerves. _What's his deal?_ Elina held her hands out in front of her, unsure if she was meant to shoot some kind of beams from them or not.

"Concentrate!" Robin shouted once more.

Elina gritted her teeth. "I would if you stopped yelling at me!" She shut her eyes and tried focusing on the task at hand, which was becoming difficult with Robin constantly screaming at her. He spoke as though everything would work in his favor just because he said so. He just expected her to use her powers as if it were that easy. Like he has any powers of his own, Elina thought bitterly.

"Just try, Elina!" Robin urged. "We really could use your help to stop him," he added, the second part spoken softer.

Elina detected the sincerity in his voice, and to her surprise, caused her to blush slightly. She was flattered that the Teen Titans, even Robin the Boy Wonder may need her help. But flattery quickly turned into frustration as she saw she wasn't getting anywhere with bringing out her powers.

"But how could I help? It's clear that I don't have any powers. And even if I did, I would only use them for research. I don't fight Robin. I'm just a scientist." Elina met his gaze from across the room; his eyes had so much intensity in them – it felt like he was peering into her soul and it scared her.

"That's not all you could be if you wanted to," he said.

Feeling strangely uplifted by his words, Elina tried once more to summon her powers. Nothing happened. She stamped her foot in frustration. "It's no use; I don't have any powers." All the Titans appeared to be disappointed, including Robin.

"You mean you don't feel anything?" Robin asked, in disbelief that despite all her attempts to trigger her powers, nothing had happened.

Elina shook her head angrily; she was done with the whole thing. "No. The only thing I feel is a headache from squinting so much." She had been right from the start; she was useless to the Titans. They had expected too much of her. She was just a scientist who was now a freak because of some "cure" she had created. She wondered where she would go after they politely asked her to leave.

"I wouldn't give up yet," a voice said from the corner of the room. It belonged to Beast Boy. "If she has animal powers, the only way to trigger them would be for her to be near an animal," Beast Boy said with a smirk on his face, evidently talking about himself. Beast strutted over to the side of room where Robin was and motioned for Robin to move out of the way. "Step aside Robin, let me handle this," Beast Boy said, overly confident. Robin reluctantly stepped back a bit, but stayed close by.

"Careful Beast Boy, we don't know how her powers affect the animals." Robin said.

Elina glared at Robin. She didn't have any powers, and even if she did, she wasn't going to hurt Beast Boy.

Beast Boy waved Robin's comment aside. "No problem. It'll be fine, see?" Instantly, Beast Boy had transformed into a small bird that started pecking at the ground.

Elina quickly forgot she was irritated and stood there, stunned by what she saw. Beast Boy had actually turned into an animal. For years, she had studied DNA and different mutations, but all the logic and facts had led her to believe that the ability for someone to mutate their DNA into several non-human things within seconds impossible. But how was Beast Boy supposed to activate her powers? His main form is human (at least that what Elina assumed), and she needed an animal. Then again, it could work because BB had mutated his DNA, so he was supposedly a hundred-percent animal.

"Fine, I'll try it," she muttered. She shut her eyes and held her fingers to her temple, while she concentrated on hearing him inside her own head. The rest of team watched anxiously. Don't think about it; try to feel it. Elina's eyes snapped open, knowing that the voice she had heard inside her head wasn't hers. She looked down and saw bird Beast Boy was staring at her the same way as the other animals had the night before. Elina felt a spark of hope inside of her; her powers were working, and she could please the Titans. She focused, trying to not let the connection between her and Beast Boy slip away, but it felt like she was doing it without much effort. She quickly started to feel his heart beating as if she were becoming him. Suddenly, she felt a sensation that was unfamiliar to her: her back started to tingle, and slowly it crept across her entire upper-back. Elina tried to keep from herself panicking, worried that something was wrong. She hadn't felt that way last night around the animals. She thought about breaking the connection with Beast Boy, but after a minute, the tingling had stopped. Then she began to feel light gusts of wind coming from behind her. She wondered if someone had opened a window until she realized she couldn't feel the ground underneath her. It wasn't until someone said it that she realized what was happening.

"Elina, you have wings!"


	9. Chapter 9

Chp. 9: A New Titan

"Look, she has wings!" Starfire exclaimed once more. Elina saw herself rising higher from the ground, but she wasn't sure how to control her wings. Beast Boy decided to change back into his human form to join the rest of the Titans, who were also watching Elina, and were delighted to see that she did, in fact, have superpowers.

"Cool…" Beast Boy said. Elina's wings looked as if they belonged to a bird, but sprouted from her back like she had been born with them. They were powdery white, small purple patches scattered about them, and the feathers looked neat and well groomed. The wings appeared to be sturdy for their size, and were a fairly decent size for her. Overall, they were simple, yet attractive; at least the Titans seemed to think so. However, as soon as Beast Boy had changed back, Elina felt herself losing her grip on her powers. She felt Beast Boy fading from her mind: his voice, his thoughts, and eventually his heart. She heard his heartbeat getting fainter and could feel and his heartbeats getting weaker inside her chest until she lost it altogether. She tried to hold onto him until it hurt her. When the pain became unbearable, Elina eventually gave in and let him go; however, it caused her to lose her wings and her ability to fly. Soon she was plummeting down towards the ground, and the Titans watched in horror as they saw Elina falling to her doom. Fortunately, Robin was fast. In a flash, he was racing from the other side of the room and held his hands out to catch her. In one graceful swoop, he had caught her in his arms and set her down on the ground. Elina, still conscious, rubbed her head, which ached from all the tension that had built inside of her when she was concentrating.

"Thanks," she managed to say. The rest of the Titans came bounding towards her with concern.

"Friend, I hope you are the okay," Starfire said with worry written on her face.

"Girl, you alright?" Cyborg asked. Elina nodded, feeling dazed from all the energy that she had used up when she was using her powers.

"Dudes! That. Was. Cool!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Raven glared at him.

"I checked her for injuries. There aren't any," she said in her monotone voice. The rest of the team looked relieved.

"At least now we know you have powers," Cyborg said, trying to lighten the mood.

Beast Boy's face brightened. "Yeah! You could be a part of the team. Kick some bad guy butt," he said, punching his fists in the air like he was reenacting a fight scene.

Starfire giggled and clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh yes! We would most wish to have you."

"But first, we'd need to help you train so you can hold onto your powers," Robin said.

Elina mentally rolled her eyes. She knew they were probably just excited, but they were rushing into things too quickly. She felt she didn't have control over anything with how fast-paced her life had seemed to be moving within the last couple of days. She couldn't even hold onto her powers, and yet they were asking her to be a Titan. She didn't know the first thing about crime fighting and she did not want to be a part of it. She'd be in constant danger all the time; why would she want to live her life like that?

"I don't want to."

Beast looked confused. "What?"

"I said I don't want to."

Robin frowned. "You have to train if you want to be a Titan," he said, sternly but matter-of-factly.

Elina sighed, annoyed that they didn't understand what she was saying. "I mean I don't want to be a Titan." Beast Boy gasped in shock. Everyone looked surprised except Raven, whose expression was blank.

"Come on, being a Titan is fun. Please," Beast Boy pleaded. He turned into a dog and tried to wear her down with the puppy-dog face.

"It's great," Raven said, in such a way that one couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Either way, Elina wasn't convinced.

"Why don't you want to be a Titan?" Robin asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.

"It's dangerous," Elina replied. He studied her, wondering what her problem was. Deep down, she kind of reminded him of himself a year or two ago: cold, protective, and lonely. He couldn't let her leave, knowing what he had been like before the Titans. He didn't want her to spend her life as he had, without a home and without a family.

"Sure, being a Titan isn't always fun and games, but we get through it, as a family." The rest of the team nodded in agreement. Elina just stared at them in disbelief; how could they even think she took the heroing-business lightly?

"I never said it was fun and games."

Feeling claustrophobic, Elina stood up and was ready to leave Titans Tower for good. The last place she wanted to be was in this room, cornered by them. Slade was still out there, but she could handle herself. The Titans would get him eventually. She wanted to forget all this ever happened. "I'm sorry. Thanks for everything, but I really must be going," she said, as she started to walk towards the exit.

"It's more dangerous out there than here. Slade is still out there," Robin said, sounding more desperate. She had no idea what she was doing.

"I can take of myself," Elina said rather harshly, her back to the Titans.

"You do not wish to join us?" Elina could hear the sorrow in her voice.

"Sorry Starfire, but I really have to go."

"Where will you go?" Robin asked. "You told me you didn't have a home." Elina glanced back at the leader one last time, the leader who had helped her escape her problems, even if it was just for one night. Now she had to face them, even if it meant walking on the same streets as Slade, without a home.

"I'll find a way." She said, turning her face back to the door. Robin was about to pull his hair out; he was starting to get tired of her antics. She was stubborn, just like him.

"You get to help people," Robin blurted out. He didn't know why he said it. she seemed like type of person that wanted to help people. He could sense it. To his delight, Elina turned back around. He knew he had gotten to her when he saw that her eyes had new life to them. She would stay with them; he would make sure of it. He teasingly looked away from her, pretending to be oblivious to her reaction.

"But you don't have to if you don't want to," he said. Reverse psychology had worked on him when he had been fighting alongside Batman; it had even worked on Batman sometimes.

Elina sighed. She knew what Robin was doing, and she didn't like it. But if being a Titan would give her another chance to help people, it would be hard to pass up.

"Fine," she said grudgingly. It didn't matter if she had said fine to staying with them, being a Titan, or both. She was staying, and all the Titans were glad.

"Glorious!" Starfire exclaimed, ecstatic that her new friend would be staying.

Cyborg stuck out a robotic hand to Elina. "Welcome to the team."

"We're glad to have you, Elina." Elina glanced at Robin and saw he was smiling at her. She knew he had been messing with her when the Titans were trying to get her to stay, but now she didn't care as much. Maybe it was because deep down, she had wanted to. Maybe it was because she simply wanted to help people, wanted a place to live, a family, or even because she wanted to prove herself to the team, to Robin. Whatever the reason was, she had decided to stay, and there was no going back.

"Sweet, this'll be awesome!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

Just as the words had come out of his mouth, a shrill beeping noise rang through out the Tower along with flashing bright red lights. As if on cue, Robin shouted

"Titans, go!" and before anyone could process what was happening, Robin had already sprung into action and was headed for the living room to see what had set off the alarm. Soon the other Titans were following close behind him, including Elina, who was ready to face the threat without backing down, just like a Titan.


	10. Chapter 10

Chp. 10: The Stranger in the Tower

The Titans followed Robin into the common room. Robin was already at the TV, and from what Elina could see, furiously pressing buttons on some type of control panel. She assumed that the TV doubled as some kind of supercomputer or alarming system, but she knew it wasn't the time to be discussing technology. The others were eyeing Robin anxiously, and shot each other nervous glances. Everyone seemed to have the feeling that something was off. Robin typed something into the computer, and instantly a screen popped up. The screen displayed a map of the Tower in its most basic form. On the screen were six green dots, which obviously were the five Titans and Elina. However, not too far from the six green dots was a single blinking red dot, and it was moving closer to them every second. Robin turned around to face the Titans', whose expressions were now written with fear. Elina was about to ask what the problem was, even though deep down, she could probably guess what was wrong.

"Someone's in the tower," Robin said. He tried to appear calm, but Elina could see the panic in his eyes. This was very bad.

"Do we know who the intruder is?" Starfire asked, her usual upbeat voice now sounding upset. Beast Boy's carefree attitude had disappeared as well, and his eyes now shone with concern.

"Is it you-know-who?" he asked, not wanting to say the evil man's name out loud. Robin knew exactly whom Beast Boy was referring to. He looked back at the screen.

"Judging by the scanners they appear to be alone."

Cyborg tapped his foot impatiently while fiddling with something on him arm, most likely preparing him for a battle. "But it could still be him, right?" he asked.

Robin showed an unusual amount of uncertainty that Elina hadn't seen before. He looked down at the floor in defeat; he had no clue who it could be.

"I don't know. But the only thing we know for sure is that we have to stay together." The group nodded in understanding; one could tell by their uneasy expressions that no one was going anywhere at the moment. Robin turned to Raven.

"Raven, can you sense who it is?" Robin asked, the desperation in his voice becoming more pronounced. Raven shut her eyes for a moment and then opened them again, except she looked puzzled, which was not a good for the rest of the team. Raven rarely ever looked puzzled, if she was showing any kind of emotion.

"I can sense somebody, I can't tell you who it is. Their aura isn't strong enough, like only part of their soul is here."

Robin's eyes narrowed in suspicion. There was only one person he could think of who matched that description. "Slade," he growled.

Slade's humanity had been lost a long time ago, along with his soul. He saw the panic in his team's eyes. He didn't want to lose them to a monster that had once turned him against them. This was his chance to destroy him and make him pay for what he did. Yes, he was scared. But he couldn't show it to his team; he needed to be strong for them. Slade could smell fear, and he wouldn't give Slade the satisfaction. He was going to finish him off, once and for all. "Titans, go! Prepare to attack!" By this time, the blinking red dot was practically on top of them. The intruder had taken the elevator and was quickly making his way up to the common room. The Titans held their breaths. If it truly was Slade, they were goners.

For the first time since she had entered the Tower, Elina felt unsafe. It never crossed her mind that Slade would even dare enter the Titans Tower. _Is he after me?_ The thought made her stomach churn. How would she use her powers for defense? She barely knew how to use them properly, and if Beast Boy kept changing, she wouldn't be able to use them without losing control.

Seconds felt like hours to the heroes as the elevator traveled up the tower. Finally, the Titans heard a shrill ding, which signaled the elevator had reached its destination. The heroes tensed and braced themselves for battle. They watched in horror as the elevator doors slid open. To their surprise, a familiar blonde-haired girl stepped out of the elevator.

"Hey guys! Did you miss me?"

 **Hey guys! Sorry I just uploaded a mass of chapters. I updated them all too-in a format that is easier to read in my opinion, where the character's actions and their dialogue are in the same line/paragraph most of the time. Again, I wrote this like two years ago, so my style has changed a bit too, so be aware of that in future chapters. And I also wanted to point out that I did intend to make Elina act like a bit of a snob, since she's feeling a bit vulnerable and defensive. She's supposed to be a reserved and intellectual character, who does not interact with people much outside her lab, which is why her social skills are lacking. Anyways, hope you enjoy the story, and keep your eyes peeled for updates. I have two other stories going on, each a different cartoon, so I might not update for a while, but have faith in me! Bug me if you have to! :) And don't forget to R & R!**


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